Automatic exposure control for photographic camera



Sept. 18, 1962 H. NERWIN ET AL 3,054,337

AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA Original Filed Dec. 5, 1958 4 Sheets$heet 1 Fig.1

24 R192 Hubert Nerwm 1 0 L JohnH.Eagle i 1 INVENTORS' ATTORNEYS P 1952 H. NERWIN ET A). 3,054,337

AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPI-IIC CAMERA Original Filed Dec. 5, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hubert Nerwin J ohnH.E agle INVENTORS' Fw /M BY {Max 6 AT TOR Yb Sept. 18, 1962 H. NERWIN ET AL 3,054,337

AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA Original Filed Dec. 5, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Hubert Ne ruh'n John H. E agLe INVENTORS MTORNEYS p 1952 H. NERWIN ET AL AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE CONTROL FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Dec. 5, 1958 United States Patent 3,054,337 AUTGMATIC EXPGJSIURE CQNTRQL FQR PfiltiTfiGliiAPll-lltl (CAMERA Hubert Nerwin and John H. Eagle, Rochester, N.Y., assigners to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Uriginal application Dec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,439, new Patent No. 2,999,439, dated Sept. 12, 1961. Divided and this application May 12, 1960, Ser. No. 28,677 Claims. ((Cl. 95lttl) The present invention concerns photographic cameras and more particularly concerns automatic exposure control systems for such cameras.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 778,430, now Patent No. 2,999,439, filed December 5, 1958 by Hubert Nerwin and John H. Eagle.

In prior art cameras having automatic exposure control systems, either a shutter mechanism or a separate diaphragm mechanism is automatically controlled in accordance with the intensity of light from a viewed scene or object. It has been found that a significant economy of machine parts can be achieved by employing a single mechanism as both the shutter and diaphragm in a camera of this type.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to employ a single capping device as both a shutter and a diaphragm in a camera having automatic exposure control. This object may be realized in numerous tructures. For example, a single capping device such as a pivoted blade may cooperate with a fixed lens aperture of a camera to normally exclude all light from that aperture and may be moved at a predetermined speed so as to temporarily expose a portion of the aperture to light from the viewed scene. In this case the exposed area of the aperture is determined as a function of the light intensity. Alternatively, the fixed aperture may be fully uncovered during each cyclic movement of the capping device and the rate of that movement may be determined as a function of the light intensity. Instead of a single blade the capping device may comprise two or more blades moving pivotally, linearly or otherwise in a cornplementary manner.

In order to illustrate the invention We have shown it in the accompanying drawings in a preferred embodiment wherein a pair of pivoted blades constitute the capping device, with a fixed-speed shutter that moves the blades cyclically to temporarily form a diaphragm aperture between them. The area of the aperture is determined as a function of the light intensity; the extent of opening of the blades is limited by a member that is positioned in response to differential energization of a light-measuring instrument.

When the intensity of the viewed light is below the normal exposure range of the camera, as the latter is adjusted for a particular film speed, filter, etc., it is convenient to have an indication that the automatic exposure control system cannot produce a normal exposure. It is therefore a further object of the invention to indicate the absence of sufiicient light for taking a normal exposure with a particular camera adjustment.

More particularly, it is an object to positively block operation of the camera operating lever when there is insufiicient light to take a normal exposure of the viewed scene.

A related object is to selectively and momentarily disable a device which, when enabled, blocks operation of the camera operating lever if there is insufficient light to take a normal exposure.

A further object is to disable such blocking device for an indefinite period of time, primarily for taking indoor pictures with flash lighting.

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Another object is to manually override the automatic exposure control of a camera for selectively setting an exposure factor that normally is set automatically.

A further object is to selectively enable or disable such manual override, regardless of the manually set value of any exposure factor.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a camera embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the camera operating lever, showing its manner of cooperation with the shutter mechanism and the low-light block and low-light release mechanisms;

PEG. 3 is a front view of the shutter-diaphragm blades showing their manner of cooperation with the galvanometer and the low-light block and manual override mechanisms;

FIG. 4 is a front View of the split shutter-drive lever;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIG. 3, with the manual override mechanism in its manual position;

H6. 6 is an exploded isometric view of the manual override control mechanism; and

FIGS. 71() are schematic drawings of the manual override mechanism in various positions of operation.

Exposure System Referring to FIG. 1, a camera 10 has an axial lens system, indicated generally at 12, for focusing an image of a viewed scene onto a photosensitive surface such as a roll film (not shown), which is wound by a pair of knobs l4 and 16. A light-measuring instrument mounted inside the camera has a light sensitive surface 2% (FIG. 2), which is exposed to the viewed scene through a lens block 18 (FIG. 1). Surface 26 is connected to the moving coil 22 (FIG. 2) of a galvanometer and energizes that galvanometer as a function of the intensity of the viewed light, causing coil 22 to rock about a pivot 23 and assume an angular position which is a function of the light intensity. The lens system, Winding mechanism and light-measuring instrument are Well known in the art and will not be disclosed in detail. It is understood, however, that various forms of these elements may be employed in the invention. For example, the light-measuring instrument may comprise a hot-wire actuator, a solenoid or any other photoelectric-to-mechanical transducer.

Referring to FIG. 3, the galvanometer coil 22 has an integral arm 24- that rocks with the coil. Arm 24 has a tip 26 formed at a right angle to the arm and extending through an arcuate slot 23 in a fixed plate 39. The tip 26 of the coil arm 24 cooperates with a serrated edge 32 of a first shutter-diaphragm blade 34, pivoted at 36. A second shutter-diaphragm blade 38, pivoted at it), cooperates with blade 34 in overlapping relationship and the two blades normally cap a fixed aperature 42 that is concentric with the lens axis. During shutter operation blades 34 and 38 are pivoted in a reciprocal motion, first away from each other to form a diaphragm aperture 44 in alignment with the fixed aperture 42, then back to their rest positions for recapping aperture 42. The size of the diaphragm aperture 44 is determined by the position at which edge 32 on blade 34 engages the tip 26 of galvanometer arm 24 and is therefore a function of the light intensity. Slot 23 in plate 30 acts as an anvil for backing the galvanometer arm to prevent the application of undue stress to that arm.

The shutter may be of any type wherein a capping device, such as blades 34 and 38, i yieldably moved through a predetermined path to form an aperture. It may be necessary in some cases to modify the mechanism that drives the capping device, in order to provide a yieldable drive. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in conjunction with a well-known type of automatic single-speed shutter disclosed fully in Eastman Kodak Company Apparatus and Optical Division Parts List 5521 and commercially available in the Kodak Pony II camera.

Briefly, this shutter comprises a trigger 46 (FIGS. 2 and 3) that is pivoted at 47 and is maintained in a clockwise position (as viewed in FIG. 2) by a drive spring 48. The latter spring yieldably secures the trigger to an impact lever 50, also pivoted .at 47. The impact lever 58 has a shoulder 52 engaging an ear 54 on a latch 56,

pivoted at 57. Lever 50 also has an end 74 engaging a first notch 76 in a flywheel 78, which is pivoted at 79. The impact lever 50 normally is maintained in a clockwise position (FIG. 2) by latch 56 and the latter normally is maintained in a counterclockwise position (FIG. 2) by a spring 58.

An ear 60 on trigger 46 is engaged by an arm 62 on the camera operating lever 64, which is pivoted at 66 and normally maintained in a clockwise position (FIG. 2) by a spring 68. When lever 64 is manually depressed to operate the camera, its arm 62 first rocks trigger 46 counterclockwise (FIG. 2) to increase the tension of the drive spring 48. Further depression of lever 64 rocks trigger 46 further counterclockwise until a shoulder 78 on the trigger engages an ear 72 on latch 56 and rocks the latch clockwise (FIG. 2), thereby disengaging shoulder 52 from ear 54. This releases the impact lever 50 for rapid counterclockwise movement (FIG. 2) under the tension of drive spring 48 for rotating the flywheel 78 clockwise (FIG. 2) against the tension of a spring 80. The flywheel is shown in its rotated position in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, wherein that position is counterclockwise of the rest position. A second notch 82 in the flywheel is adapted to receive an arm 84 (FIG. 4) on a shutter-drive lever 86, which is pivoted at 88. When the flywheel is rotated away from its rest position it rocks the drive lever 86 clockwise (FIG. 4) until the inertia of the flywheel is expended in increasing th tension of spring 81 approximately at the position shown in FIG. 3. Spring 88 then returns flywheel 78 to its rest position, at which position the flywheel is stopped when arm 84 (FIG. 4) of the shutter-drive lever 86 re-enters notch 82 and returns lever 86 to its rest position (not shown). During this reciprocating motion of the shutter-drive lever, the latter imparts a reciprocating pivota1 movement to the shutterdiaphragm blades 34 and 38 (FIG. 3) in the following manner.

The drive lever 86 comprises two members 90 and 92, both of which are pivoted at 88. Member 90 is integral with arm 84 and rocks through a full reciprocating stroke against the tension of a spring 94 when flywheel 78 is reciprocated as described above. Member 92 is yieldably secured to member 90 by a spring 96 and carries a pin 98, which engages respective slots 100 and 102 (FIG. 3) in blades 34 and 38. Slots 100 and 102 are arranged at an angle to each other and to the path of pin 98. Therefore, when the drive lever 86 (FIG. 4) is reciprocated, pin 98 on m mber 92 also reciprocates, first to pivot blades 34 and 38 (FIG. 3) away from each other until blade 34 is stopped by the tip 26 of galvanometer arm 24, then to pivot the blades back to their rest positions. Since blade 34 can be stopped at any differential position by the galvanometer arm, member 92 (FIG. 4) is stopped at some intermediate position in its cyclic stroke although member 98 continues to travel through its full cycle against the tension of springs 94 and 96.

Low-Light Block and Release When the intensity of light from the viewed scene or subject is too low to permit a normal exposure during automatic operation of the camera, it may be desirable to prevent manual actuation of the camera operating lever. For this purpose, a blocking lever 104 has a slot 106 by means of which it is mounted on the previously described pivot 57 for sliding and pivoting movement against the tension of a spring 188. A sensing lever 110 has a slot 112 adapted to receive a fixed pin 114 and is pivotally mounted at 116 on the. blocking lever 184. A spring 118 normally maintains lever 104 in a clockwise position (as viewed in FIG. 3) where an ear 107 on lever 184 abuts the sensing lever 110. An ear 185 on blocking lever 104 underlies the previously described ear 68 on trigger 46. When the camera operating lever 64 (FIG. 2) is depressed, its arm 62 imparts a downward movement to trigger ear 60, blocking l ver 104 and sensing lever 110.

When there is sufiicient light for a normal exposure, the galvanometer arm 24 is rocked away from its rest position, asshown in FIG. 3, and is out of the downward path of an ear 120 on the bottom of lever 110. In this case, ear 187 on lever 104 moves downward past a fixed stop 122. On the other hand, if the light is insufficient for a normal exposure, the galvanometer arm is at or near its rest position, as shown in FIG. 2, and is engaged by ear 128 on the sensing lever 110. The galvanometer arm then acts as a pivot and rocks the sensing lever 110 counterclockwise (as viewed in FIG. 2) about pin 114 against the tension of spring 118, thereby forcing pivot 116 and the blocking lever 104 to the left (FIG. 2), where car 107 engages the fixed stop 122 to prevent further manual depression of the camera operating lever, thereby blocking the release of the shutter. The engagement of the blocking lever with stop 122 also prevents further manual pressure from being applied to the galvanometer arm.

If the person operating the camera wishes to make an exposure when there is insufiicient light for automatic operation, he can momentarily disable the blocking mechanism described above. A release lever 124 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is supported for sliding motion by a pair of frame members 126 and 128 and normally is maintained in an outward position (shown in FIG. 2 by solid lines) by a spring 130. A crank 132 is pivotally connected to lever 124 at 134 and is mounted for rocking motion about pivot 23. An ear 136 on crank 132 is adapted for motion along the low-light end of the path of galvanometer arm 24 when lever 124 is moved inward to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 2. If the galvanometer arm is in its low-light position at this time, crank ear 136 moves it out of the path of ear 120 on the sensing lever 110; therefore, blocking lever 104 cannot engage stop 122 and it is prevented from performing a blocking operation.

Manual Override 111 some instances, principally in photographing indoor subjects, it is known in advance that the intensity of light from the photographed subject is below the exposure range of the camera. In this case it is desirable to set the diaphragm value manually in accordance with the proper criteria for making a flash exposure. In other instances, too, it may be desirable to set the diaphragm value manually, for example in deliberately underexposing or overexposing, or in situations where the backlighting of the subject is in high contrast to the lighting of the subject itself.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, a diaphragm-setting lever 140, pivoted at 23, has a first car 142 that engages a cam slot 144 in a setting disk 146 (FIG. 6), which is concentric with the lens axis. Only the cam slot 144 of the setting disk is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, where it is seen that a spring 148 urges lever counterclockwise into a position where ear 142 engages the inner surface of the cam slot. Disk 146 (FIG. 6) has a central opening 147, by means of which it is freely mounted on a fixed sleeve hub 150 that is concentric with the lens axis, and has a knurled edge 174 to facilitate its manual turning. A selecting disk 152 is freely mounted on a smaller hub 151, integral and concentric with hub 150, for rocking movement about the lens axis.

The selecting disk 152 has a slot 154 aligned with slot 144 of the setting disk 146 for receiving ear 142 of the setting lever 140 (FIGS. 3 and 5). When the setting disk 146 is rocked about the lens axis in the manner hereinafter described, ear 142 of the setting lever follows the inner surface of cam slot 144. The cam slot has a narrow end 144a where its inner surface is substantially an arc of a circle concentric with the lens axis, and has a wider end 14 1b where its inner surface spirals toward the lens axis. When disk 146 is in a counterclockwise position (FIG. 3), ear 142 of the setting lever lies in the narrow end 144a of the cam slot and maintains the setting lever in its clockwise position where a second ear 143 lies outside the arcuate path of the galvanometer arm 24 and permits free automatic operation of the galvanometer and diaphragm. On the other hand, when disk 146 is in its clockwise position (FIG. 5), ear 142 lies in the wider end 1441) of the cam slot and permits spring 148 to rock the setting lever 14% counterclockwise, thereby permitting ear 143 to rock galvanometer arm 24 counterclockwise for manually determining the maximum opening of blades 34 and 38.

The selecting lever 152 (FIG. 6) has an arm 156 (see also FIG. 1) by means of which it may be rocked manually between two extreme angular positions, in each of which it is yieldably retained in a respective detent 158 and 160 (shown schematically) in the camera front. A leaf spring 162 is secured to setting disk 146 by a rivet 164 extending through a hole 166 in the setting disk. Spring 162 has a free end 168 that is formed to extend through a slot 171) in disk 146 and into engagement with a series of arcuately spaced detenting apertures 172 in the selecting disk 152. When the selecting disk is rocked about the lens axis, by means of arm 156, it carries the setting disk 146 with it by the frictional engagement of spring end 168 with one of the apertures 1'72. However, detents 158 and 1611) have substantially greater frictional resistance than does the detenting spring 168 in apertures 172; therefore, the setting disk 146 may be rocked about the lens axis independently of the selecting disk 152.

A disk 176 has a central opening 17$ by means of which it is freely mounted on hub 151 for rocking movement about the lens axis. Disk 1'76 is secured to and moves with the selecting disk 152 by means of a rivet 180 that extends through an arcuate slot 182 in disk 146 and through a hole 184 in disk 152. Disk 176 carries a setting window 186, which is moved either to a viewing position, shown in solid lines, or to a nonviewing position, shown in broken lines. When the setting window 186 is in its viewing position (selecting disk 152 is in its clockwise position as viewed in FIG. 6), it overlies a scale 188 on setting disk 146 and underlies a selecting window 190 on a fixed cover 192. Scale 188 may be graduated in aperture values or EV values (as shown) or in any other convenient exposure designations. When setting window 186 is in its nonviewing position, it is no longer in register with selecting window 190 in the cover disk 192; therefore, scale 138 is not Visible from the outside of the camera. Disk 192 has an arcuate recess 194- through which the knurled edge 174 of setting disk 146 is exposed for manual adjustment of the diaphragm.

The two positions of selecting disk 152 may be indicated by lettering, such as Flash and Daylight (or Manual and Automatic,) on the peripheral face of disk 176. When selecting disk 152 is in its clockwise position, as shown in FIG. 6, window 186 and the word Flash (or Manual) on disk 176 are visible through the selecting window 190 in disk 192; therefore, the person operating the camera knows that he must set the exposure value manually as indicated in window 186. When the selecting disk 152 is in its counterclockwise position, only the word Daylight (or Automatic) on disk 176 is visible through the selecting window 190, and since no exposure numbers are visible in that window the operator knows that the camera is operated automatically at this time.

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate the relationship of the various elements of the manual override system. The setting lever 144) is indicated schematically, its pivot 23 and its cam following ear 142 being shown as connected circles. From FIGS. 7-10 it will be seen that when the selecting disk 152 is in its clockwise (Flash or Manual) position, the setting-lever ear 142 is in some portion of the wide end 144-11 of the cam slot, depending upon the manually set position of disk 146. *It will also be seen that when selecting disk 152 is in its counterclockwise (Daylight or Automatic) position, car 142 of the setting lever is in the narrow end 144a of the cam slot, regardless of the manually set position of disk 146. Therefore, when the camera is set for automatic operation, it is impossible for the operator to accidentally control the diaphragm opening by any manual setting of disk 146.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a camera having a shutter and an acuating member therefor, an objective diaphragm including a variable aperture, and a photoelectric-to-mechanical transducer energizable by scene light and cooperating with said diaphragm for establishing the size of said aperture as a function of the energization of said transducer, the combination comprising: a blocking mechanism disposed in cooperative relation with said actuating member and operable in response to a predetermined level of energization of said transducer, for blocking operation of said actuating member; and a manually operable device cooperating with said blocking mechanism for moving a part of said blocking mechanism to permit operation of said actuating member regardless of the level of energization of said transducer.

'2. In a camera having a shutter and an actuating member therefor, a diaphragm including a variable aperture, and a photoelectric-to-mechanical transducer energizable by scene light and cooperating with said diaphragm for limiting the size of said aperture as a function of the energization of said transducer, the combination comprising: a blocking lever cooperating with said actuating member and adapted for movement in response to operation of the latter; a sensing lever connected to said blocking lever for movement therewith through a predetermined path; a control member positioned into and out of said path by said transducer as a function of said energization and engaged by said sensing lever in response to movement of said sensing lever when the energization of said transducer is below a predetermined threshold level; a fixed stop adapted to be engaged by said blocking lever in response to engagement of said control member by said sensing lever; and a manually operable device cooperating with said control member for selectively moving the latter out of the path of said sensing lever.

3. In a camera having a lens system for focusing an image of a viewed scene onto a photosensitive surface and having an adjustable diaphragm in alignment with said lens system; the combination comprising: a lightmeasuring instrument adapted to be energized by scene light and having a movable member positioned by said instrument to control the adjustment of said diaphragm as a function of scene brightness; a manually operable override device adapted to cooperate with said movable member for manually positioning said member; a setting 75 member adapted for manual adjustment throughout either of two ranges and cooperating with said override device in a first of said ranges to control the adjustment of said diaphragm in accordance with the position of said setting member within said first range, irrespective of scene brightness, and cooperating with said override device in the second of said ranges to prevent cooperation of said override device with said movable member irrespective of the position of said setting member within said second range and irrespective of scene brightness; a selecting member manually movable to either of two positions; and a yieldable coupling between said selecting member and said setting member for moving the latter from a position within one of its ranges to a corresponding position within the other of its ranges in response to movement of said selecting member from either of its two positions to the other, thereby selecting a range of operation for said setting member, said coupling permitting adjustment of said setting member Within its selected range independently of said selecting member.

4. The combination defined in claim 3, wherein said override device comprises a pivoted lever having an ear, and said setting member comprises a disk mounted for rocking movement about an axis of said lens system, said disk having a cam slot adapted to receive said ear, said slot having one section spiraling relative to said axis and having another section forming an arc of a circle concentric with said axis, the two sections of said slot defining the respective first and second ranges of said setting member.

5. The combination defined in claim 3, wherein said setting member carries an exposure-factor scale, with: a cover member moving with said selecting member and having a window exposing a portion of said scale at a predetermined viewing locus when and only when said selecting member is moved to said position wherein it permits cooperation between said override device and said movable member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,051,061 Tonnies Aug. 18, 1936 2,388,609 Ericsson Nov. 6, 1945 2,841,064 Bagby et al. July 1, 1958 2,884,843 Royet May 5, 1959 

